BioWare Considers Free-to-Play For The Old Republic

[Noxogz]

Nothing made by NCSoft should be considered AAA. NCSoft picks a random handful of korean grinders to release here yearly.

First TERA was not made by NCSoft, it was made by the unfortunately named Bluhole studio, it's being published in NA by En Masse Entertainment and in EU by Frogster.

Second TERA had a budget of over 30 million dollars, but I guess now days any indie developer can come up with that kind of money for their own game right?

I mean Notch totally spend $30 million to make Minecraft (I know Minecraft is no longer an indie game but it was when it was made) and Yahtzee totally had way more when he made Get Poachin' and the Yogscast totally asked for that much to make Yogventures right?

TERA is totally an indie game right? I mean what with having 2 publishers and a budget that could feed a small third world country right?

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Well, that didn't take long.

It might still be alive, but this basically shows that TOR simply didn't live up to the standards that EA was expecting. I hope that this doesn't mean that they kill the servers like they did with SWG. I can really see them doing that.

 

[Creator002]

If the Old Republic went F2P, I'd seriously consider buying it, as well as try and convince a friend or two as well. A good move, IMO.

 

[martyrdrebel27]

We all called it.

You can't charge a subscription for an MMO that is in every way inferior to WoW and expect it to work.

If it wasn't for the Star Wars brand, TOR would've been F2P 2-3 months ago.

GW2 could possibly get away with it, but part of their plan is to not have subscriptions anyway. TERA could last using a subscription model too, if they sort out their PvP and a couple other minor/important issues soon.

i prefer wow as well, but star wars is not inferior in every way. the group questing aspect so much more fun and inventive. the full voice acting on Star Wars is far superior to WoW's text boxes. and those two elements combined is better than anything WoW has done in either regard.

 

[Floppertje]

I'm getting the feeling that SWTOR failing isn't so much because it's not as good as WoW, but because EA just isn't good at anything it's supposed to be doing. Ok, maybe they do alright funding games, I don't really have a way of looking into that side of their business. but their distribution and marketing of games is abysmal.
HOWEVER, having said that: I played TOR from launch and it kinda just stopped being fun after a while and I can't for the life of me think why. it's not that the combat is any worse than WoW's, my grenade barrage was incredibly satisfying to use. it's not that the grouping thing doesn't work, because it does. maybe it's that every other quest you get is a variation on getting asked to do something, then almost doing it but finding out there's more to it than the original questgiver let on and then you have to decide what to do. maybe it's the fact that I didn't really have a good guild. I was signed up with the user group guild and they're fun enough, just not active enough. I'll probably give it another go if it goes f2p, I already payed for it so I might as well.

 

[Deadyawn]

And is anyone actually surprised by this? Because I'm not. As soon as it didn't manage to steal all of WoW's userbase (which would have been pretty much impossible anyway) this move was practically inevitable.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Hopefully they do go free to play, but I highly doubt my computer would be able to handle it, since my computer is a three year old Dell Inspiron desktop with basic everything. I won't be able to change that until I find work somewhere.

I have yet to find one game that does "Free-To-Play" right. It always ends up as "Free-To-Pay" instead. Even LOTRO or D&D didn't do it right. I don't want to pay to get the good stuff, or have to pay to unlock certain areas. I want to pay a set amount each month for EVERYTHING. Not have content stripped away to have to pay for.

As I've been able to tell, Star Trek Online is true free to play. It went free to play a few months ago, and from what I can tell, the only thing that difference between free and sub is that subs gets extra storage space for items on their starships and in the bank every ten levels and also a stat respec token every ten levels as well. Now, the free account can only get one space to make one Federation captain and won't be able to play in the Klingon faction when it is unlocked(doesn't matter, that faction is boring because they kind of put all their energy in giving new content to the Feds and not the Klingons).

Those things can still be got while in a free account, because free accounts can still earn, refine, and trade dilithium in to get Cyrptic points, which can be used to get those things that the subers get. Those Cryptic points can also be used to unlock more spaces for characters, so you can have more than one in free to play.

Now, I've played for a solid month and a half on free to play, and from what I can tell, nothing of the playable content has been locked out to free to play people. F2pers still get a credit chit every 10 levels to get a free and better starship, and I was able to participate in every mission and event I came across.

The thing is, you have to be somebody that genuinely likes Star Trek, because much of the stuff discussed in some of the content relates back to all the different TV series.

The space combat and missions are phenomenal and the best I could have ever thought possible in a Star Trek game. The sounds and visuals are spot on. Ground missions are so so, but I haven't been able to play them with a top of the line graphics card. Space holds up to low graphics ability, ground doesn't, though it is still pretty playable with low graphics, it is just that the visuals will suck.

I would also say that if you ever wanted to create a character all your own in an MMO, STO has the most extensive character creation mode, especially if you chose to be and "unknown" alien captain, which has use of all the character creation parts from all the known species and much more.

So I just wanted to get that out there, if you didn't know.

 

[Kelethor]

You Could just...make KoToR 3?

Its cheaper then an MMO, and you'll sell millions because of the cluster fuck that was the ending of KoToR 2.

 

[Valis88]

Sometimes I feel like the only person, who actually enjoying TOR.

Sure I have my issues with EA (big issues), but TOR is a solid game and it's lots of fun. It also has a really great community, (actually in the game, not on the official boards).

I think once all the /hateTOR and TORtanic stuff fades away, then we'll see the game get it's wings again, and it will retain a smaller,(not too small), but extremely loyal player base...it's already begun, in a way.

Sometimes I wonder, if this announcement was for any other MMO, and not for TOR.

How would people react?

 

[Giftmacher]

As much as I enjoy SWTOR and continue to play it, the whole MMO genre is getting tiresome. I can't even find enjoyment from WoW anymore, and this is coming from someone who has played the same character on the same server since the original release day.

Monthly subs in general really need to go, or at least reduce the cost.

Yeah, I said much the same just prior to TOR's launch. Voice is great but it's not enough to bolt it on to the same tired old mechanics and expect significant numbers of people to keep paying a monthly fee. It's a pity really, I hoped for more from this game.

 

[Giftmacher]

Sometimes I feel like the only person, who actually enjoying TOR.

It's not that it's a particularly bad game; the market is very competitive. I played it and thought TOR was solid (for the genre at any rate).

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

DDO does f2p perfectly IMO.

Free players get half the races and 2/3 of the classes about half of the content and unlimited levels. You can "earn" a lot of the pay stuff by playing but to earn most of it requires grinding by restarting toons.

If you buy anything at all that unlocks more character slots and the auction house and unlimited world chat which is a great way to prevent spammers.

I would have never tried it if it wasn't f2p. But I tried it totally free for 3 months, liked it, and ended up playing for ~2 years and spending more than 200. Now if you math it out that is less that $15 a month but its still more than they would have gotten if it wasn't f2p at all.

Give it a try, if anyone wants tips on the best way to get started PM me.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

Sometimes I feel like the only person, who actually enjoying TOR.

You are not alone, sir. I beta tested SWTOR back when they were only letting a few people in and have played it right up until this month, with the only reason I stopped playing being that I couldn't afford the subscription fee. I have loved it every step of the way. Well... not Hoth, anyway.

EA kinda screwed the pooch on SWTOR - they rushed it out before the end of 2011 and the game had minimal content. It still does, actually. The problem with SWTOR is that while it is an amazing game, it goes too fast. People are used to WoW, which has 8 years worth of content, so they get bored quick. The only thing that holds my interest is playing new classes to see their stories.

 

[Trekkie]

Free to play. Or in other words "we cant beat WOW"

 

[theultimateend]

As much as I enjoy SWTOR and continue to play it, the whole MMO genre is getting tiresome. I can't even find enjoyment from WoW anymore, and this is coming from someone who has played the same character on the same server since the original release day.

Monthly subs in general really need to go, or at least reduce the cost.

I have yet to find one game that does "Free-To-Play" right. It always ends up as "Free-To-Pay" instead. Even LOTRO or D&D didn't do it right. I don't want to pay to get the good stuff, or have to pay to unlock certain areas. I want to pay a set amount each month for EVERYTHING. Not have content stripped away to have to pay for.

Free-to-pay is probably the most clever of ways I've seen it expressed.

F2P is always more expensive than P2P, unless you enjoy playing a demo.

And is anyone actually surprised by this? Because I'm not. As soon as it didn't manage to steal all of WoW's userbase (which would have been pretty much impossible anyway) this move was practically inevitable.

There are about a dozen people that bragged about how this would obliterate the MMO market.

I had played it and expected it to fall apart in a short time and end up F2P.

I suppose either I just got lucky on the coin toss or I wasn't as blinded by the nostalgia of the universe as they were.

 

[samaugsch]

As much as I enjoy SWTOR and continue to play it, the whole MMO genre is getting tiresome. I can't even find enjoyment from WoW anymore, and this is coming from someone who has played the same character on the same server since the original release day.

Monthly subs in general really need to go, or at least reduce the cost.

I have yet to find one game that does "Free-To-Play" right. It always ends up as "Free-To-Pay" instead. Even LOTRO or D&D didn't do it right. I don't want to pay to get the good stuff, or have to pay to unlock certain areas. I want to pay a set amount each month for EVERYTHING. Not have content stripped away to have to pay for.

Really? I hate having to pay monthly for games at all. If you play long enough, you could've bought at least 2 decent games for the amount you paid for that one MMO.

 

[grigjd3]

What, you mean EA is not willing to take on the risk to make something that has the lasting power and draw of WoW? I'm, shocked, nay, surprised! Oh wait, the other thing.

 

[wulfy42]

I was one of the 1.7 mill that bought the game...and I deeply regretted it. Probably played that MMO less then any other that I have payed for. I tried hard, playing multiple characters etc, to enjoy the game...and did a bit for the first planet or two of each class, but eventually it just got to be work to even log on and start playing and before 2 weeks were up, I couldn't bring myself to do it anymore.

I played it over 40 hours in that time, but doubt I got even 10 hours of real entertainment from it.

I have not gotten Tera yet, nor will I ever purchase an MMO till I try the beta at this point because of SWTOR. Even if it was free, with full content based on my already buying the game, I would not play it anymore.

Dungeons and dragons on line is so much better. I have WAY more fun playing that game and I've already spend hundreds if not thousands of hours over the years playing it.

Btw, you can play pretty much all of DDO for free if you work at it a bit. I'd suggest investing just a tiny amount of money to get premium status (purchase any store points or 1 month of VIp), or better yet get the 3 month for $30 package) just because you get so much from it and can save a ton of time that way...but even going from scratch you can eventually unlock way more then enough content to reach level cap with your characters, and then slowly start to add things like additional classes, races etc if you want.

DDO is free to play, even the currency that you spend to purchase things is obtainable in the game...it just takes time. You also get a nice boost of points for your first character on each server (which can allow a brand new account to purchase quite a few adventure packs right away if they want.

SWTOR in my opinion was a bad WoW clone. It might "maybe" have been ok if WoW never existed and many people had not played it a ton already, but at this point it just didn't bring enough new to the table, the quests were stale and boring, combat was nothing new or interesting and the slow traveling etc just was tedius. The story arks were decent to good, but I'd rather just read a star wars novel then play that game anyday.